ALMOST every day there are very young people passing through the courts for the commission of some serious crimes, including robbery under arms and even murder. They use poverty as an excuse because of a conveniently erroneous premise of “marginalisation and discrimination. However, these are merely opportunistic excuses because there is work to be found for those who do not suffer from a “get-rich-quick’ syndrome and a propensity to covet the hard-earned belongings of others. Education, tertiary training programmes for school drop-outs, even small loans for micro entrepreneurs are available for those who are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices and educate/empower themselves for their own upward mobility.

In 2010, the Board of Industrial Training celebrated its 100th year of existence at a ceremony held at the Umana Yana, Kingston.
Held under the theme “A century of Empowering Youths with Technical and Vocational skills for life,” the ceremony featured presentation of awards to long-serving masters and staff. Among the companies to receive awards were Guyana National Industrial Corporation, the Guyana Sugar Corporation, Guyana Power and Light, and Transport and Harbours Department.
In excess of a century after its establishment, the Board has come a long way in empowering youths, with partners like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) also coming on board to provide training to young people.
That anniversary was a milestone of life and history, according to former Chairman, the late Dr. Dale Bisnauth, who noted that the Board could not have reached such an achievement without the contributions of the persons who have served over the years.
The Board of Industrial Training (BIT) was established in 1910 under the Industrial Training Act Chapter 39:04, Laws of Guyana. At the time of its promulgation, the Industrial Training Act was described thus: “An Act to provide for the promotion of Industrial Training.” As such, the focus of BIT was formal Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as it relates to apprenticeship within the industrial sector.
These apprenticeship programmes have four-year duration, with provisions made for shortened two-year programmes in special cases where the applicant would have had previous technical training.
Training is offered in various engineering fields, such aspects as mechanical, electrical and building construction with funding sometimes provided through collaboration with the private sector and other Non Governmental Agencies.
They also aim to ensure that the nation is provided with an adequately trained workforce in both industrial and commercial sectors of the economy.
One such programme that is currently under execution through funding by the Government of Guyana, and which receives the co-operation of the public and the private sectors, is the National Training Programme for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE), which commenced in September, 2005, and which has benefited over thousands of youths to date. They have been trained and certified at the semi-skilled level through this project.

NTPYE, a countrywide initiative, is the vision of former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and was launched as part of the Administration’s policy to reduce the level of unemployment and better the living standards of citizens. Youths from 15 to 25 years from the 10 administrative regions have benefited from training and have acquired jobs through the Ministry of Labour’s Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency.
BIT expanded its role in 2009 through training programmes for single parents, with the aim of providing marketable skills as a means creating or increasing income generation. Hundreds of persons have been trained under the single parent programme in employable skills that are in demand on the labour market and many graduates have received grants to assist in the establishment of small businesses.
Parents were trained in Childcare, Care for the Elderly, Pharmacy Bond Clerk, Medical Records, Health Care, Cosmetology, Sewing, Catering, Office Procedures and Information Technology. They also received the necessary equipment to begin their trade.
The initiative is part of Government’s strategy to reduce the level of unemployment and improve the living standards of its population. Added to this is the Women of Worth (WOW) programme, which provided loans and training to unskilled women so that they could be empowered financially and in all the variables that could facilitate wealth-creational activities.
The Government is keeping faith with the people; and although Guyana is a long way from reaching its optimum potential, with much left to be done, this nation has come a long way from the devastation and destruction inherited by the first PPP/C Government.